Baby Photography

It’s October, which means it’s time to start thinking about all things FALL. While it’s sad to see Summer go, I truly love Fall and everything that comes with this season. Traditions are so important to our family – they are so comforting. It’s important to start these family traditions right away because they slowly will become the backbone of a family.

This bucket list is full of fun ideas to do with your baby or kids this fall! Hopefully some of these things you can look forward to year after year.

We’ve updated our app with tons of new stickers to help you celebrate Fall + these festive activities! Be sure to download the app HERE so you can document everything you check off your Fall bucket list!

FALL BUCKET LIST

+Visit a Pumpkin Patch

+Go Apple Picking

+Carve Pumpkins

+Trick or Treat

+Dress Up in a Costume

+Play in the Fall leaves

+Go on a Hayride

+Take Fall Photos

We hope these activities + stickers will inspire you to do a lot of fun things this Fall! We can’t wait to see all of your adorable Fall photos on Instagram!

Can you believe it’s back to school time already?! The summer flew by and now we are getting ready for the next season of the year— the first days of school. Whether your child is starting daycare for the first time or is a big 5th grader, you have to take a back-to-school photo! This milestone is so important and is one that you and your children will look back on for many years. We are here to share our favorite first day of school photo tips + tricks!

2+ Have you child hold up a chalkboard! You don’t even need to write anything on it. Just have them hold the sign and add a “First day of _____ grade” with the Little Nugget app! No need to worry about chalkboard smudges!

3+ Choose a fun location! Try taking your back-to-school photo in front of the bus or at the bus stop. What about in front of the school doors? Or if you are allowed in their classroom on the first day, a photo in their new desk would be adorable!

6+ Print out your photos! Celebrate this huge milestone in your child’s life by printing out your Little Nugget design right through the app. Hang it on the fridge to show them how proud you are. Your Little Nugget photos will become your most cherished keepsakes.

We can’t wait to see your back to school photos! Share them with us on Instagram. Tag @littlenuggetco + #littlenuggetco for a chance to be featured!

If you are anything like me, you love celebrating fun holidays with your family, but don’t have a ton of time to put into planning and making crafts #momlife For Valentines Day this year, I am planning on gifting adorable photo gifts to my family using artwork from the Little Nugget app. The gifts will be super fast and easy and i know my family will love receiving them. If you are looking for an easy DIY Valentines Day gift from baby, keep reading.

Step 1:

Take an adorable picture of your baby from your iPhone or simply use a photo that you already love. We have some great tips on taking photos of your baby with your phone.

Step 2:

Upload the photo to the Little Nugget app and add artwork from our Valentines Day collection.

Step 3:

Print your pics using our printing service, or if you are a little last minute, run to your local grocery store or Target. A lot of local photo shops have apps so you can order the prints directly from your phone.

Thinking of turning your Valentines Day photo into a gift? Here are a couple of fun ideas…

Gift the photo in your favorite frame or simple wooden photoblock.

Print the photo on a postcard and send it to family and friends that live out of town.

Help your little one paint a picture around the photo print.

Create a custom phone case with the photo using the Little Nugget printing service.

Print the photo on a mug, t-shirt or pillow so family can always enjoy the photo!

Looking for inspiration for your pic? We’ll be sharing some of our favorite Valentines Day baby pics on our Instagram profile. Follow us @littlenuggetco and tag #LittleNuggetCo for a chance to be featured.

At Little Nugget we recognize not all families start with a little blue line. Some families are built biologically. Some are blended through marriage. Some through adoption. Regardless of how a family is built, all that matters is a family is a family. Every family has a story to tell, moments to remember, and milestones to capture. Our mission is to help all families capture their story.

Announcing Our Adoption Milestone Category!

We’re excited to announce a new category in our app specifically for adoptive families. From making your adoption announcement to filling out paperwork to finding your match to meeting your child, you can now capture every adoption milestone with Little Nugget.

Adoption can be a long, emotional and demanding journey for parents. Capturing your adoption story from the beginning is important. It’s the story of how you became parents. It’s the story of how you built your family. It’s a story your child will one day look back on and treasure. We’re so honored to help families tell their story.

Send us your adoption milestones.

Recognizing every adoption is different, we worked with some incredible adoptive families to create milestone artwork that covers all potential milestones. A special thank you to Claire Johnson and Leanne Johnson for your input and help. If something is missing or you have a sticker idea, please email us at hello@littlenuggetco.com.

Share your adoption journey. Send us your adoption milestones.

As a mama and founder, one of the most rewarding parts Little Nugget is sharing in on your family moments and milestones. We’d love to also be apart of your adoption journey. To share your adoption milestones and have a chance to be featured, follow @littlenuggetco on Instagram and tag your pics with #littlenuggetco.

The Little Nugget app is the perfect way to create milestone photos. From pregnancy bumps to baby mess-ups to big kid milestones, our app helps you capture those fleeting moments. We have tons of stickers + designs that are created for each + every milestone your child hits. We make it easy to create monthly baby + bump updates!

Lately, we have been seeing some of our Little Nugget users get creative with our app. We want to share with you some tips + tricks for making a milestone video using our Little Nugget app + some other useful apps.

Kari from @gracefulmommy is pregnant with her second baby. She uses our app to document her growing baby bump every couple of weeks with a fun video update.

We asked @gracefulmommy to share some of her tips + tricks with us on how she creates these fun + engaging videos! Here’s what she says,

1+ First, download the Little Nugget app. This is my favorite app for document my growing bump (and also my 2 year old’s milestones). The stickers are so fresh + fun and are constantly being updated.

2+ Take a photo. I always enlist my husbands help for my bump photos. You could also try setting your phone up on a tripod or a wall. Say “cheeeeeese”!

3+ Pick your favorite photo (you know it always takes a few snaps to get the one you love). Open up the Little Nugget app and open that awesome photo.

4+ Here’s the trick. It takes a tiny bit longer to make a video, but the end result is so cute! Add one sticker to your photo. Save + finish in the app. Then, open back up the original photo, and add another sticker. Keep repeating this until you have about 5-6 different photos with stickers. Sometimes I’ll add 2 Little Nugget stickers at at time, but I think the effect is really cool when you just have one sticker at a time popping up!

5+ By now, you should have 5-6 photos with stickers saved to your camera roll. Now we need to upload them all to another app to create the video. My 2 favorite apps for turning your Little Nugget designs into video are Flipagram + GIF maker. Both are super easy. Just upload the photos you designed and hit next. You can adjust how fast or slow the photos change. I typically like to have them pop up faster, as I think these are more fun to watch.

6+ That’s it! Be sure to share your video to Instagram and tag #littlenuggetco so we can see your awesome designs!

TIPS:

+Instead of using the SAME photo and changing the stickers, you can also try doing it the other way around. Try taking a few photos in the same spot. Add a Little Nugget sticker in the same spot on each of the photos. This is a super fun way to make your milestone photos more engaging!

+Add doodles, too! Little Nugget has a whole section of fun doodles. These are perfect to add to your video, in addition to the milestone stickers!

OTHER EXAMPLES:

We can’t wait to see the videos you create using our Little Nugget app! Be sure to share them on Instagram using @littlenuggetoco + #littlenuggetco!

We are always looking for fun + easy ways to display our Little Nugget designs around the house. Our app has a print shop where you can print your designs on square prints, magnets, + even phone cases. These really make your Little Nugget Designs come to life. We recently discovered yet another way to print our your designs in a super fun + creative way! It’s called Shiner Photo.

Shiner lets you upload your favorite photos + Little Nuggetdesigns. Then they are printed on high-quality, handmade birchwood blocks. These blocks are awesome! You can either hang them with a thumbtack on the wall, stand them up with the peg stand included, or use the embedded magnets! When you order from Shiner, you also get a handy grid that lets you hang up your designs in a clean or clever grouping!

We love Shiner + Little Nugget together because your memories and milestones deserve to be printed and displayed beautifully. Shiner makes this so easy!

You can use our monthly stickers on your monthly baby photos and get each block printed out! These would be SO fun to display at baby’s first birthday party, or even just around the house.

One of the most rewarding things about owning the Little Nugget app is watching babies grow + change through customer photos. One of our favorite photos to be tagged in is monthly baby updates. There is something so magical about watching a baby change each month from newborn to one year.

We wanted to share some of our favorite customer monthly baby photos with you, as well as some tips to make yours look the best! Stick around to the bottom to read more about a giveaway we’re having!

1+ Take monthly photos on a blanket

One of our favorite blanket shops is Batz Kids. They make adorable milestone blankets that help you track baby’s growth. These make monthly photos so simple + easy because you just lay baby down on the blanket, take a photo, and edit the photo on your phone, using Little Nugget, with all important details!

2+ Take monthly photos with the same stuffed animal

Using a stuffed animal for each monthly photo is a great way to show baby’s growth visually. Each month baby will start to look bigger next to the stuffed animal. By one year, you can really see how much baby grew. Plus, every time you see that stuffed animal you will be reminded of how teeny tiny baby was!

3+ Use a consistent background

There are two ways to make this work: either use the same, simple, background each month. OR use different colorful backgrounds each month. Both of these options result in the cutest monthly photos. If you choose to use simple backgrounds, your photos will be consistent and look great together in a collage or on a photo wall.

Here is my own daughter, Evie. She just turned ONE! I chose to use a white furry rug so the background had some texture, and lots of space to add stickers and designs.

If you choose to use different colorful backgrounds, it results in a super fun collage and a great variety in each photo!

4+ Add doodles

Our Little Nugget app has tons of doodles and things to add to each monthly photo! We love when our customers add hearts, balloons, or stars to the open space of their photos. One fun idea is to add a sticker to represent that month of baby’s life. So if it’s Christmas, add a Santa hat on baby for that month! Or for the month of July, have baby hold an American Flag sticker! These are all great ways to remember that month of baby’s life!

5+ Add details + text

It’s so important to keep track of baby’s growth and milestones each month. This is something that all parents love to look back on. Rather than trying to keep track of a baby book each month, you can try to add some of the important memories of the month right onto a photo with the Little Nugget app!

6+ Put baby in a white onesie

Real life monthly baby stickers are cute. But, let me tell you a secret. They are IMPOSSIBLE to capture each month. Once baby learns how to rip them off, you can forget about your photo each month. Instead, put baby in a white onesie, take a photo and add a sticker to their belly AFTER. Problems SOLVED.

There are so many creative ways to document baby’s monthly growth. We hope these tips help you choose the right style for you! Our app, Little Nugget makes capturing these moments so simple, easy + fun.

Taking great pictures takes time + practice. Some people practice for years to get it right! But, let’s face it. We don’t always have the time or money to invest in professional photography gear. But most of us DO have a iPhone! We wanted to share our top 10 tips for taking better photos with your iPhone!

1 + Wipe off camera lens: This is such an easy tip, but one that’s forgotten a lot. Your phone is constantly being tossed around, going in and out of diaper bags and purses. And if you’re like me, it ends up dropped on the floor A LOT. Before taking your next shot, wipe off the lens on the back. It’ll make a huge difference.

2+Natural light is KEY: This is probably the most important tip of photography. Look for the light. Natural light is the best kind. I actually prefer turning off lamps and overhead light to reduce the yellow tint in my photos. Another great tip- if you’re outside, look for a shady spot to take a photo instead of BRIGHT sun.

3+ Tap on screen to adjust brightness: When in your camera app, tap on different parts of the screen to adjust the brightness. I always touch the darkest part of the photo and then swipe up with my finger to make it brighter.

4+ Keep it LOCKED: Hold your finger on the screen (in the camera app) for a couple of seconds to LOCK the screen. This means that the settings freeze where they are.

5+ Be super still: Another one of those tips that’s super simple, but easily forgotten. Try not to move when your taking a photo. I know it’s hard when your chasing after a toddler. Keep your hands as still as possible to keep a photo sharp.

6+ Check your background: When taking photos of my daughter, I look for neutral, plain backgrounds. You want the focus to be on your subject, not the stuff in the background.

7+ Don’t use iPhone zoom: If you want to get a closer shot, physically walk closer to your subject. You’ll get a way sharper shot. The iPhone does zoo, it’s not high quality. Get closer, instead.

8+ Use photo apps!: Even professional photographers edit their photos. It’s actually known to be the most important step of photography. My favorite is VSCO. I add a filter, crop, brighten, bump up the clarity and we’re good to go!

9+ iPhone 7 portrait mode: Have you tried this yet?! This feature on the new iPhone is a great way to get a professional look using your phone!

10+ Little Nugget App: Our app, Little Nugget is the perfect way to capture your baby’s sweet moments and milestones. From pregnancy bumps to baby mess-ups to big kid milestones, Little Nugget captures fleeting moments, big and small, so you can save them for years to come. We also have a feature that allows you to print your designs right from the app! Perfect to put in a baby book or scrapbook!

If it isn’t obvious yet, I’m really into capturing memories, especially of my daughter Leslie. Not a day goes by when I don’t take at least 10 photos of her. Rewind to her first year and I was taking at least 100 photos a day. When it came time to create her Baby’s First Year photo album I was so overwhelmed with thousands of photos to choose from. It was just too much for me to tackle. Admittedly, I walked away from the project and decided I’d tackle it another time.

About a month ago I came across an incredible mama-founded photo album service called Shortcake. Shortcake makes it easy to create beautifully-designed keepsake albums. The design service will gather your photos and social content (think dates, locations, status updates, comments…), and use the details you’ve collected and shared to create a beautiful scrapbook of your family’s moments and adventures. The only thing you have to do is connect your social and photo storage accounts, fill out a form with some details, and then sit back and wait for the design to come in. Ah-mazing! Goodbye mommy guilt. Hello beautiful, personalized album of my daughter’s first year.

Want to create one? Use code “NUGGET” to get 10% off the design fee for your first order at www.shortcakeinc.com/order. Offer expires 7/21.

I recently connected with Coralee to talk about her business and just how she keeps it all together. Check out what Coralee has to say in our latest Inspiring Moms feature!

On Motherhood, Work, and Keeping it Together

When did motherhood become real for you? When my daughter was born. As in literally the moment when she came out of me. It wasn’t real until I saw her. My actual first words on seeing her were “Holy *, it’s a baby.” (Oh the panic of first-time motherhood.) For me, no matter how much I “knew” I had a baby in there while pregnant, I didn’t really know until I saw her in person, crying and defenseless and needing our care and attention.

What is the most surprising thing about motherhood? The paradox of extremes. How quickly (as in seconds) you can go from being completely frustrated and overwhelmed and desperate for anyone to take over for you, to utterly melting in a pool of love and cuddles.

What is the scariest thing about motherhood?
The vulnerability of having your heart walking around outside your body.

What inspired you to start Shortcake? A little before my daughter’s first birthday, I started feeling guilty because I hadn’t been writing down her milestones and special moments in the baby book I bought for her. Both my mom and my mother-in-law had kept lovely baby books for my husband and I, so I felt awful that I hadn’t done the same. Then I thought about how I had shared most of my daughter’s most important moments with family and friends on social media, which included written descriptions, captured the date, and received some fun comments that I liked looking back on. “Somebody must have a business that will help me turn that into a really nice album, right?” I couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I decided to create it myself!

What are you most proud of? In truth, I’m really proud of myself for starting this business. It might be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. There were so many times I could have quit when it got hard, but I didn’t, and I’m proud of what I’ve created. I love knowing I’m a role model for my daughter and other moms I know who are thinking of starting a new career.

What has been the hardest thing about balancing your business and being a mom? Taking control of my time. It is not easy and I struggle with it. I’m still a full-time caregiver to our daughter while also putting in full-time hours running Shortcake from our home office, so if I want to achieve something (whether personal or business) I have to block out time for it or else it doesn’t get done. Being pregnant isn’t helping – it’s SO tempting to take a nap during naptime instead of working.

#MomTip: What is your best advice for other mamas who are trying to make it all work? Write out your to do list for the next day before you go to bed. (That’s when all your reminders and lists are swimming around in your head and keeping you awake in bed anyway, right?) I’ve seen this simple trick greatly help my productivity (and help me get to sleep faster too). Then in the morning I don’t have to use my brain at all – I just look at my list and know what I need to focus on.

What can’t you live without? Some help! Like many new moms, I struggled in the beginning with letting someone non-family watch our daughter. But once we finally hired our first sitter about a year ago….it’s so great. I currently have a sitter come watch her for a few hours twice a week so that I can get in some extra work time, and it is the best. Our daughter loves the sitter too and has such fun playing with her. Win-win.

First thing you do when you put your kiddos to bed… Have some dessert and talk to my husband. He doesn’t get home from work until our daughter’s bedtime (and I’m usually still half-asleep when he leaves in the morning), so after bedtime is the only good hangout time we get. Then it’s either time for me to go back to work or call it a day. Did I mention pregnancy with a toddler is exhausting? Follow Shortcake on Instagram , Facebook and check out the Shortcake blog. Stay tuned… I’m in the process of creating my own Shortcake album of my daughter’s first year. Can’t wait to share it with all of you!